optional

[op-shuh-nl]

adjective

1. left to one's choice; not required or mandatory.

   Formal dress is optional.

   Synonyms: voluntary, elective, discretional

2. leaving something to choice.

optional

/ ˈɒpʃənəl /

adjective

1. possible but not compulsory; left to personal choice

Other Word Forms

• optionality noun
• optionally adverb
• nonoptional adjective
• nonoptionally adverb
• unoptional adjective
• unoptionally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of optional¹

First recorded in 1755–65; option + -al ¹

Example Sentences

There would be an optional connection from Colton to Las Vegas.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

More than 2,000 continue to make submitting the results of SAT and ACT scores optional, for instance, something many started doing during the pandemic.

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Embracing AI is “a necessary task and not an optional one,” China’s Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Zhang Yunming said recently.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Citing murky laws and growing case law, online service HelloPrenup last year added optional clauses to its forms to help couples spell out what happens to embryos in a breakup.

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It later emerged that Khawaja skipped optional training on Thursday to play golf, but Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg said the back stiffness was a pre-existing issue.

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